Revisiting the Declaration of Independence

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Revisiting the Declaration of Independence

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. James 3:16

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…

I have always been awed by the courage required of the Founding Fathers. Signing the Declaration of Independence was an act of treason against the kings government. They risked everything in their desire for freedom.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

When I was growing up, these men, as well as their successors down through our history, appeared to be heroic, larger-than-life figures. They secured our freedoms, and then protected them from tyranny.

All experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer,while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing theforms to which they are accustomed…

As I moved into adulthood, my youthful awe of our political leaders changed as I saw how decisions are made in real world politics. I was disappointed to see that our leaders werent always capable or principled or courageous. But because I still felt that our system of government, based on a three-fold separation of powers, worked more often than it failed, I was complacent.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariablythe same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism,it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government…

The last 30 years have gradually changed all of that. No matter how many Congressional candidates promised change, or which party controlled the White House, or who the new Supreme Court justices were, our national life has accelerated its decline. Our leaders became part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

The history of the present King is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States…

What are we to do when our federal servants arrogantly rule with almost absolute powers? Although the Bill of Rights says the federal government has only those powers specifically granted to it in the Constitution (all others being held by the states or the people), the federal government behaves as if it were just the opposite.

He has imposed taxes on us without our Consent…

Its immoral to seize our earnings with burdensome taxes. Studies indicate that federal, state, and local governments combined demand anywhere from 36¢ to 40¢ out of every $1 we earn[1], yet they still refuse to live within their means, piling an ever-growing mountain of debt on our children. Some might argue that we give our consent to these taxes through our elected representatives, but the evidence is that candidates are routinely elected who say they favor lower taxes (or at a minimum, promise not to raise them). Once they become part of the ruling elite, however, they betray us.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance…

The federal government depletes our productive energies through administrative strangulation and intimidation. Congress passes laws that impose tens of thousands of pages of regulations on us, and then turns their interpretation and enforcement over to millions of faceless bureaucrats who exercise almost dictatorial powers. They decide the rules by which we are permitted to live, work, play, and manage our own property and businesses.

[He has suspended] our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever…

State and local laws are routinely set aside by Congressional mandate or the federal courts. When we try to reclaim control of our local laws through the ballot box, they abolish referenda that have been approved by a majority of an entire voting population.

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people…

Like the writers of the Declaration of Independence, we too are faced with the need to free ourselves from such a Tyrant. Next months elections give us an opportunity to elevate those with integrity and courage to fight a revolution. Let us look diligently for those among us who, like the Founding Fathers, are willing to say: That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States… And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

AUSTIN PRYOR
FOUNDER/PUBLISHER

Excerpted from Sound Mind Investing, America’s best selling financial newsletter written from a biblical perspective. Copyright 2010.
Reprinted by permission. For subscription information, call toll-free 1-877-736-3764 or visit their website at www.soundmindinvesting.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 24th, 2010 at 13:42 and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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